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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Senator Pat McGuire began his career in the
3Illinois Senate in 2012; for eight years, he has proudly and
4ably served the people of DuPage and Will Counties in that
5position; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire came to public service long before
7his election to the General Assembly; he taught job health and
8safety to local union members and English to high school and
9community college students; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire has brought a lifetime of
11experience in both private and public schooling to his role in
12the Senate; he attended Catholic schools in his hometown of
13Joliet and later served as a member of his local school board;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire also served his community in
16elective office as a county treasurer before becoming a state
17senator; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire has been a strong advocate for
19women and children, including acting to toughen penalties on
20domestic abusers and funding Court Appointed Special Advocate
21organizations in order to ensure that abused and neglected

 

 

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1children are getting the court support that they need and
2deserve; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire used his position as Chair of the
4Senate Higher Education Committee to be a tireless champion for
5the hardworking students and families looking for opportunity
6in Illinois, including his push to standardize Advanced
7Placement class credit; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire worked to preserve and redevelop
9Joliet's government facilities, including serving as a charter
10member of the Collins Street Task Force to preserve the Collins
11Street prison facility and fighting to ensure that efforts are
12made to preserve a longtime fixture of the community; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire was among those leading the fight
14for fairer wages in the Illinois Senate by co-sponsoring a
15measure to raise the minimum wage in Illinois to $15 per hour;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire spoke against harmful cuts to
18programs like child care assistance and fought to preserve
19payroll for state workers during the two year budget crisis
20that occurred early in his career in the Senate; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire used his position as the Senate

 

 

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1Higher Education Chair to lead a years-long outcry among
2students, faculty, and activists to call for funding for
3universities during the two-year budget impasse; he spoke
4against cuts to the university system and in favor of
5continuing a commitment to affordability, accessibility, and
6quality on the part of the state's public institutions of
7higher learning; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire worked to form and lead the
9bipartisan, bicameral Higher Education Working Group that was
10instrumental in preserving and reforming Monetary Award
11Program funding for college students and in creating the AIM
12HIGH state scholarship; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire focused on college affordability
14by compromising with colleagues and building on past successes
15to bring about the Higher Education Savings Program and the
16Illinois Savings Program Fund to help bring higher education
17within reach of even more Illinoisans; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire also concerned himself with the
19wellbeing of students on campus by creating the Mental Health
20Early Action on Campus Act to respond to the very real
21pressures and uncertainties facing many students living away
22from home for the first time; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire dedicated himself to improving
2the State's Department of Children and Family Services by
3speaking with community members and agency officials on how to
4support families in the system and improving the Department's
5ability to respond to their needs; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire dedicated much of his career to
7support worker safety by pushing for worker access to and
8knowledge of the regulations and protections granted by OSHA
9and other state workplace safety organizations; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire, responding to the dire safety
11concerns posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to essential workers,
12convened a legislative working group with the goal of providing
13employees with the means to report improper conditions and
14provide employers with clear guidance on how to reorganize
15their workplaces to maximize worker safety and to minimize the
16likelihood of transmitting the virus; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire earned many accolades during his
18time serving the 43rd Senate District, including being honored
19by the Romeoville Fraternal Order of Police, the Illinois
20Leadership Council for Agricultural Education, the
21Transportation for Illinois Coalition, the Illinois Optometric
22Association, Leading Age Illinois, Joliet Central, the senior
23living communities Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook and Woodridge

 

 

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1Horizon, the Southwest Coalition on Substance Abuse Issues, and
2Volunteers of America of Illinois and by being a member of the
3Edgar Fellows Program's Class of 2017, among other honors; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Senator McGuire exits the Senate to dedicate more
5time to his most important roles of being a husband to his wife
6Lora and a father to his daughter Molly; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
8ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Pat
9McGuire for his service to the people of Illinois and honor him
10with this resolution; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to Senator McGuire with our best wishes for all his
13future endeavors.